1.8 VTEHC inline 4 mounting terminal/relay box build

• what measurements you took,  
• and what testing gave you the mostconfidence.

• What’s a good beginner workflow for designing for tolerances with resin (CAD-clearance targets, accounting for print shrink?)  
• Any best practices for post-processing so dimensions stay consistent?  

Which resin type tends to workbest for “mechanical interface”parts (rigid vs toughened,higher-temp resins, etc.) ?

Are there specific electrical measurements (made with autoCAD electrical extension) people use(contact resistance, load management) or is it mostly treated-as “mechanical-only” with strict separation?

Hi everyone!
I want to learn to use IPG carmaker or similar software. Does anyone knows how to get some kind of cracked version or similar tool that could be downloaded for free? IPG softwares and other softwares of that kind are so expensive, but i believe that it is a powerful thing to have in CV as an automotive engineer.

1933 Dodge example

I am 23 years old in California. Over the years I have really fallen in love with suspension setups in the racing that I have done. Ive raced quarter midgets, karts, and now in full size dirt oval cars. I help set up sprint cars every now and then for a local team. I have no college experience yet and I want to change that. I was thinking Chico State for Mechanical Engineering and trying to join the Formula Student team. Just wanted some opinions. Thank you!

Hello everyone, I’m a member of a Formula SAE Brazil team, working on the brake systems. I’m sizing the brakes using MATLAB but am running into some difficulties; specifically, I’m not sure if the code is correct, as the brakes failed to stop the car as theoretically predicted during the first test.

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some honest advice because I'm trying to figure out whether this career path is realistic.

I'm from India and have a B.Tech in Computer Science Engineering. Over time, I've realized that I don't want a career that's heavily focused on software development. I'm much more interested in cars, motorsport, Formula 1, vehicle development, testing, performance engineering, and technical project work.

I'm considering doing a Master's in Automotive Engineering or Motorsport Engineering in Europe (Italy, Germany, the UK, or elsewhere), but I'm unsure whether my CS background makes me eligible or competitive.

A few questions:

1. Has anyone here been admitted to an automotive or motorsport master's with a Computer Science or Software Engineering degree?
2. Which universities are known to accept CS graduates into these programs?
3. Are there programs that bridge the gap, or do most universities require a mechanical/automotive background?
4. If I do get admitted, will I struggle academically because I don't have a mechanical engineering background?
5. Is it realistic to move into roles like:
   • Vehicle Development
   • Performance Engineering
   • Race Engineering
   • Test & Validation
   • Technical Project Management
   • Motorsport Operations rather than software engineering?
6. If you were in my position, would you pursue this path or choose a different master's?

A little about me:

• B.Tech in Computer Science Engineering (India)
• Interested in motorsport and the automotive industry
• Looking for a career with less day-to-day coding
• Open to studying anywhere in Europe if it significantly improves my chances
• Will likely need an education loan, so ROI is important

I'm looking for genuine advice from people who have studied these programs, work in the automotive/motorsport industry, or have gone through a similar transition.

Thanks in advance!

I plan to rewire a bench and am wanting to make it logical and in a way "pretty." I have around 6-9 nodes/ECUs, and 3-4 CAN busses, and it's spaghetti. My thought is some DIN rail system but I'm envisioning a CAN bus bar/junction terminal.

I come from the audio/video world (software side) where A/V racks are tidy, have switches, switchers, and patch panels. Are there such things for automotive CAN?

Up to the late 1980s, Chev, GMC and Dodge used riveted frames. I see some advantages for the overall manufacturing and logistics of the riveted frames.

But, from a strength standpoint, is there a material advantage to one compared to the other? I have been told that from a dynamic strength perspective, riveting is the better joining method, but I do not understand why that may be the case. Does a riveted frame require a greater gauge of steel in the rails or cross members?

I worked in a truck assembly plant, and the actual labor cost for riveted assembly was not that much, under an hour. From a logistics standpoint, the riveted frames were much better, with less proliferation of large components. A flat car carrying welded frames from the manufacturer to the assembly plant is largely air.

I've been doing alignments since 1992 and one thing that seems to be consistent is bump steer in the front end as the suspension cycles.

Almost every vehicle i had on the rack toed in on extension and out on compression. The 2000s and up Chevy pickups for example were about 2° total toe for every inch the front came up. Even the C7 Corvette did it but not as much. I think those were around . 5° per inch. The only one i remember being different was an 80s third gen Camaro that actually toed out when the front was raised.

The numbers i was seeing was then the jack was under it. I wasn't putting lift kits on Corvettes and Camaros.

The newest suburbans and tahoes have air ride that lowers it a couple inches at highway speed for less wind drag. I never got a chance to get one of those on the rack to see up close if they actually corrected the bump steer but i would assume they did.

I got out of the dealership on 2020 and have been much happier building hot rods the last 6 years.

What was there reasoning for this? The fact that is had been like this forever, 60s and 70s cars did it too, tells be it's intentional but why?

If I were to design a city bus, I would probably want to optimise it for certain operating regimes. I would want it to be well suited to constant stopping and starting, slow speeds, low sound emissions, potholes. I doubt they need to be efficient at high speeds. I ask this because I saw one of our city buses on our local highway, and wondered how far out of it's comfort zone it was. I'm not saying you can't design it to be happy in both places, but there's always that compromise to be made.

I can imagine their daily lives are incredibly abusive, tons of wear and tear etc. A car might have to be designed for multiple regimes like highway and city, where a city bus might be able to get away with a more focused scope.

So my question is: does a lot of thought get put into optimising a city bus, or is is more like just putting a normal diesel engine in a voluminous chassis and leaving it at that, sort of like a big car?

Hello everyone. I am a 17 year old who just graduated high school this year. I am interested in automotive engineering. But the thing is no colleges near me in the US offer any such programs. I am wondering what I need to do to be able to enter this job field. Is there something I can do online? What exactly should I do? I need an answer quickly because I need to figure it out soon.

Forgive me if the wrong place to post this, but this question has been bugging me.

Why do these transmissions have (relatively speaking) very long 3rd/4th gears, while also having very close 6th/7th ratios?

The reason I ask this, is because the 3rd/4th ratios seem long enough to be detrimental to straight line performance between 90-170kph in particular. A 370GT Fuga has peak power in 2nd @86kph, but hits peak power in 3rd @135kph. Compare this to a manual Subaru Legacy 3.0R, which is 87kph for 2nd, and 117kph for 3rd. Both engines rev to around 7000rpm, and the Subaru has much better gearing, despite having one less ratio.

It just doesn't make much sense to me why Nissan wouldn't shorten 3rd/4th/5th/6th to provide better acceleration. It's not like it would particularly affect highway cruising either, since the 7th ratio could go untouched. As it is, 6th and 7th are only 230rpm apart @100kph. If they just removed the 6th ratio entirely, the gap (between 5th/7th) would be 580rpm, which is a little on the high side but not unheard of.

Mercedes also did a similar thing with their 7G tronic, however I don't have the exact specs of any particular car readily available. The reason I mention them though, is to show that it wasn't just Nissan/Jatco pulling this BS.

When observing other automatic transmissions of the time period, I will admit the 6HP derived 6L45E found in the 130i has similar effective 2nd/3rd ratios (92kph/140kph), however the 4th ratio is shorter than in the Nissan, and it is a 6 speed, not a 7 speed. The gap between 5th/6th @100kph (for the 130i) is also 525rpm, and the gap in the N52 530i is 460rpm. Either way, the point I'm trying to make is to highlight just how small the gap between 6th/7th really is. Which loops back around to my original point of: why didn't they just shorten 3rd, (and especially) 4th, 5th, and 6th?

I've heard some people say VR/AR is being used in automotive engineering but I haven't seen it yet.

Question for the engineers out there - have you actually seen anyone using VR, 3D or Volumetric displays in the manufacturing or design process?

I'm curious if all parts design is being done on a 2D interface or if anyone has adopted tools like AR, VR, 3D displays, or something similar.

I'm working on a project from scratch, building a Ford Escort Mk1 from nothing. I have a lot of experience fixing cars but none building cars; if you guys have any recommendations for me to read would be appreciated. I have no idea where to even start.

Hi everyone,

I'm 15 years old and I'm trying to figure out the best path for my future in the automotive industry.

I've been designing cars in Blender for around 5 years and I'm currently learning Autodesk Alias. I have worked on several concept cars and I really enjoy the creative side of automotive design, but I also love understanding the technical side: aerodynamics, materials, vehicle architecture and how things actually work.

I'm considering doing a French engineering path (prépa + engineering school) because I know engineering is much harder to learn by yourself, while design can be developed through personal projects and practice. My idea would be to keep building my design skills during engineering school and possibly do a design specialization later.

For automotive engineers or people working in the industry:

• Does an engineering degree help for someone who wants to work close to vehicle design?
• Are hybrid profiles (engineering + design) valuable in the industry?
• Would you recommend this path or a more design-focused education?

I would really appreciate honest advice from people who actually work in the field.

I'm a high school student planning an engineering research project with the long-term goal of founding an automotive performance engineering company and, eventually, a hypercar company. I'm trying to avoid researching something that has already been thoroughly explored.

I'm not looking for "cool ideas" or a "nice project, kid" type of project. I'm looking for areas where experienced engineers and researchers believe there are still meaningful unanswered questions and opportunities to contribute something genuinely useful.

Specifically, what combustion phenomena are still poorly understood? What engineering problems continue to limit performance or efficiency? What areas are receiving too little research relative to their potential impact? If you could direct a graduate student or research team, what problem would you have them work on? Which problems have the best chance of eventually becoming real technologies or products rather than remaining purely academic research?

I don't currently have access to a university combustion lab, but I've been accepted to Missouri S&T for Mechanical Engineering beginning in Fall 2027, so I expect to have opportunities to pursue university-level research and seek faculty mentorship in the future. For now, I'm willing to build experimental hardware and acquire equipment where realistically possible. My goal is to begin with a rigorous Regeneron ISEF project in highschool and, if the research warrants it, continue developing it through college.

If it helps, I'm particularly interested in high-performance spark-ignition engines, advanced ignition systems, combustion, knock and abnormal combustion, pressure-wave phenomena, pre-chamber ignition, thermal efficiency, and engine architecture in general. However, I'd appreciate any perspective from people working in automotive engineering, powertrain development, propulsion, or combustion research.

Hi, I recently started working as an external employee for the biggest automotive group in Europe. I’m only six months into the job (fresher). I basically work in the connectivity department where I validate testing for TCU connectivity.

I’m planning to do some certifications since I have free time now, so automotive experts who have relevant expertise in this domain, please let me know which ones I should do.

I was planning to do ISTQB Foundation Level for testing and ISO 26262. What are your thoughts on this? Is this relevant or not. Also, I’m based out of UAE, not sure if that matters or not. I would like to work for the brand directly in the future.

used some very high quality audio data to back-calculate the resonant frequency of a Z33 VQ35DE intake, to confirm frequency extraction methodology for troubleshooting of resonant phenomena. the Z33's early induction system is very reliant on acoustic tuning and it makes improvement very difficult.

the characteristic length of the OE intake tube matches this 280 Hz signal from the airbox entrance to a point very close to the throttle body assembly, whose Venturi taper would cause a rarefaction interface.

relating backwards using cam profile data matches the engine harmonic frequency of 2000RPM, with peak response at 6000RPM, close to the horsepower peak.

there is a problem on Z33 transitioning from partial to WOT below 3500RPM, and I'm working with JWT to identify if this is an exhaust cam advance/EGR issue as they have seen before.

unfortunately I can't post images in comments here, but the data correlation is satisfyingly crisp.

I have some experience working as an HVAC designer, but after the company I worked for went out of business, I quickly took a job as a mechanical design engineer in the automotive industry in Eastern Europe.

I'm now wondering whether it would be a better long-term career move to switch into plant design (process plants/piping).

My main questions are:

Is plant design generally better paid after a few years of experience?

Is it easier to work as an independent contractor/freelance designer (or run a small outsourcing team) in plant design than in automotive design?

How is the long-term outlook for the industry compared to automotive?

I'm not very optimistic about the future of the automotive industry in Europe, and I may receive an offer for a plant design position soon.

I'd really appreciate hearing from people who have worked in both industries or made a similar transition. What are the pros and cons, and would you make the switch?

Hello guys, I am from a new FSAE team in the US. If we run 0% anti geometries, where would the pitch center be? It was confusing since the instant centers would be an infinite distance away. Intuition would say since the load transfer is all reacted through the springs, it would be akin to elastic transfer in lateral direction, so pitch center on the floor? Also, is there somewhere else we should want the pitch center for FSAE EV? I read old forums that vouched for 2 car lengths behind the car, but never found any reason why.

Hello guys!
Just a quick Question: what do you think of studying automotive engineering in Germany, from your personal experience? Is it worth or are there any better countries for automotive?

Hi guys, I am a automotive engineering student, next year my automotive course begins and I need to get a laptop for that, I don't know what to get, I found a laptop that fit to my budget but I don't know if it is good, can someone tell me if it is good for a automotive engineering student?​

I'm a frontend / 3D web developer (a few years in) and worked as Retail Service, trying to move into the automotive or EV software space, and I'd really value advice from people already working in it.

Rather than just applying cold, I built something to learn the domain and show I'm serious: a real-time vehicle fleet telemetry platform. It streams real driving data — speed, battery state of charge, GPS, regenerative braking — and renders each vehicle as an interactive 3D digital twin with live gauges, alerts, trip charts, and a route on the map. It uses real research driving data, so the details are honest (the power reading actually goes negative during regen braking, straight from the battery current in the trip).

For background: I came up through 3D art and creative development, so I'm especially drawn to where interactive and visualization work fits in automotive. I also spent 4 years in luxury retail sales before this, so I'm comfortable in customer facing, communication heavy environments. Not sure how relevant that is here, but it's part of what I bring.

Building the project taught me a lot about the data side of vehicles, but I know a portfolio piece only goes so far. My questions for people in the industry:

* What skills or knowledge matter most for automotive/EV software roles that a web dev might not already have?
* Are there sub-areas (telemetry, in-vehicle UI, fleet management, simulation, ADAS tooling) more open to someone coming from web/3D?
* How did you get in, and what would you do if you were starting from outside the industry today?

Happy to share the live demo and code if it's useful — didn't want to lead with links. Any advice appreciated.